But seriously, I'm really enjoying it. The author has chosen ten common Chinese words and uses each as a jumping off point to write about the changes that have occurred in China over the last few decades both from a historical and personal perspective. I'm only three words in, but it's really engagingly written!

_________________Ain't no guarantees in life, and nothing that comes out of my vagina can change that. - Erika Soyf*cker

Finished The Mephisto Club. It was fine, fairly typical crime-forensic-thriller where the author REALLY likes to go off on long explanations about what luminol is or how they can identify different types of chalk.

Speaking of long, unnecessary explanations, I also (against my better judgement) read The Lost Symbol by Dan Brown. I don't know why I did it. I don't know why I keep reading Dan Brown books. If I ever say I'm thinking of reading another, please someone say "Lost Symbol" and I will immediately come to my senses. Seriously terrible.

(Apologies to any Dan Brown fans out there).

_________________She eats a paleo diet, just like the whiskey-and-bacon-eating australopithecans before her. - annak

Have you read Deception Point? I refused to read another after that. I thought Digital Fortress was kind of fun in a ludicrous sort of way, but, of course, tech errors don't enrage me quite the way unnecessary geology errors do. (this is probably why Hackers is one of my favorite movies of all time. Heck it's even practically a Bond movie by proxie since Johhny Lee Miller is M's son)

It makes me appreciate people like Jack duBrul and James Hank Rolo more. They make sure their basic science is sound before they jump off the cliff with it. By that point, I don't care if they are getting silly because I'm turning pages too quickly.

_________________"This is the creepiest post ever if you don't know who Molly is." -Fee"a vegan death match sounds like something where we all end up hugging." -LisaPunk

Finally finished 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. I don't think I...got it? At the risk of sounding sexist, and thinking of when it was written, I think that maybe it's a more (typically) male-oriented book. Lots of hunting and setting foot onto uncharted waters and lands. Does that make me a terrible feminist? I was just really turned off by a lot of it. Also, the ending was super abrupt, like Verne's other novels that I have read, but this one leaves way too many important questions unanswered. I prefer my mysteries to be solved.

I'm now about to start The Evening Hour by Cater Sickels, which is a novel based in my home state (WV) and seems to deal a lot with coal mining and prescription drug abuse. Seems a bit stereotypical, and I might hate it, but my aunt sent it to me so I'm going to give it a go.

_________________But if one were to tickle Pluto, I suspect that it might very quietly laugh. - pandacookie

55k usd is like 4 cad or whatever equivalent in beavers you use on the island - joshua

I have read Deception Point, and while it wasn't great I wasn't as annoyed by it as I was The Lost Symbol, probably because I know exactly nothing about geology. Whereas the constant OMG HISTORY! SYMBOLISM!!! stuff in the Langdon books is just grating. That as well as the absurd portrayals of his university lectures - every time one of those comes up I just. Can't. Maybe that's the trick with his books - if you know anything at all about the subject he's writing about, you'll be too distracted by all the ridiculousness to properly enjoy it?

I'll have to check out those authors you listed and see if I enjoy them better. If not, well, maybe it's just me.

_________________She eats a paleo diet, just like the whiskey-and-bacon-eating australopithecans before her. - annak

A Hologram for the King. So far it's pretty fascinating, but it also reads as a little self-published, which, give that McSweeney's published it and that's Eggers' territory, maybe is a little true. Still. I like it.

I can't remember if I updated or not. I finished [url]I Was Told There'd Be Cake[/url] and I'm on the fence about it. It's a collection of essays by Sloane Crosley. There were a couple of essays that I thought were hilarious, but some just rambled on and seemed pointless. If you ever get a chance to read "Smell This" though, I recommend it.

Now I'm reading [url]Peaches for Father Francis[/url] which is the third book in the [url]Chocolat[/url] series by Joanne Harris. I really like Joanne Harris, but I feel like the books are losing something as she updates them for present day, e.g. Anouck has an iPod? It takes a little of the magic out of it. I'm a little over a hundred pages in and I'm enjoying the book though. I like Harris's style and have read several of her books, so I was psyched to see this in the new fiction section in the library. I guess mostly if you liked the characters then you will probably find this book endearing. (Although I reserve the right to change my mind based on the rest of the book.)

_________________I would eat Dr. Cow pocket cheese in a second. I would eat it if you hid it under your hat, or in your backpack, but not if it was in your shoe. That's where I draw the line. -allularpunk

ndpitman I just finished one of her other books, How Did You Get This Number, and yeah, mildly funny in places but mostly it just seemed like pointless rambling to me too. I much preferred Laurie Notaro's book I Love Everybody (and other atrocious lies) which was a similar type of book but way funnier.

I'm currently reading The Noodle Maker by Ma Jian, I enjoyed Red Dust but this one? Not so much. I think I still like his style of writing, it's written in a clever way & I'm starting to see the stories coming together but apparently this is meant to be dark black comedy and, well, I'm definitely not finding it funny. It's just kinda bleak and sad. I think it might just be too dark/violent for me.

_________________I would eat Dr. Cow pocket cheese in a second. I would eat it if you hid it under your hat, or in your backpack, but not if it was in your shoe. That's where I draw the line. -allularpunk

oh she is hilarious, find her earlier writigns like the 'idiot action girl adventure club.' there's a story in there about her and her grandpa going to the grocery store that makes me laugh/cry so hard i nearly pee my pants.

_________________"....but I finally found block tempeh a few weeks ago with the intent to give it my virginity." -Moon

It is very good. I picked it up ages ago, and then misplaced it. I just found it the other day in a box in the closet, along with a couple others: A Love Tree in the Black Forest by Cheng Hwa-jiuan and Your Republic Is Calling You by Kim Young-ha.

I am reading a punk - zen book. The writing is arrogant and annoying, I feel no zen at all.

Which one is it? I started Dharma Punx before but didn't really like it. I started reading a Brad Warner one in the bookstore once and mostly it seemed to be bragging about his sex life and how Buddhism doesn't have any issues with women...and I had to have just read Zen Women and it made me mad.

_________________I was really surprised the first time I saw a penis. After those banana tutorials, I was expecting something so different. -Tofulish

It is very good. I picked it up ages ago, and then misplaced it. I just found it the other day in a box in the closet, along with a couple others: A Love Tree in the Black Forest by Cheng Hwa-jiuan and Your Republic Is Calling You by Kim Young-ha.

Im reading Egalia's Daughters: A Satire of the Sexes by Gerd Brantenberg (but in the original Norwegian version) and I really enjoy it so far. Pretty funny feminist stuff and easy. Lets see how much I like it when I finished it.

_________________

lepelaar wrote:

The PPK is a mere cooking seminar for flexitarians who believe in the good of man, but might be a good resource for 3d video expertise and ready-made inhumane slaughterhouse timelines.

I absolutely loved that book! I haven't seen the film, as I was a bit worried it would be awful, but maybe I will give it a go.

I've just finished The Grave Tattoo by Val McDermid, which I really enjoyed. It's a thriller, but the plot is all based around theories about what happened to Fletcher Christian, and his supposed friendship with Wordsworth.

Next up is The Casual Vacancy

_________________Everyone turns into Boo Radley, if they live long enough ~ seitanicversesThere are as many ways to live as there are humans in the world ~ SchwaGrrrl